Lost and Found
by TheBlindMage
Summary: The Doctor and Martha stumble across Ace, locked in a prison in the middle of the Time Vortex. Can they rescue her, and more importantly, can she control what she has become? Not angsty Sequel now up- 'Echoes of the Past'. AceTen friendship
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, Martha, the TARDIS, Ace, or any other Who characters/elements. cries

Lost and Found

"We've stopped, Doctor. Have we arrived?" Martha called from her position on the floor of the TARDIS. Their journey through the Time Vortex had just come to an abrupt and rather violent halt, and she and the Doctor had been thrown to the ground. The Doctor had immediately bounded to his feet, of course, and was now frantically checking all the screens, dials, and readouts in his reach.

"Wha-WHAT? That's impossible! That is NOT possible!" He was staring helplessly at the nearest screen, and he was utterly confounded. This really wasn't possible. He closed his eyes and opened them again, thinking he was reading something wrong. Or hallucinating.

Martha was watching him with quiet amusement. "What is it?" she asked. "Where have we landed this time? Canada?"

He looked at her gravely. "That's the problem." he said. "We haven't."

"Haven't what?" Martha was confused. She could have sworn he just said they hadn't landed. But they were stopped, weren't they?

The Doctor was nervous. This had never happened before, not ever, to anyone. He tried to explain it to Martha while at the same time trying to believe it himself.

"We haven't landed, Martha. We're not on Earth. In fact, we're not anywhere. We're still in the Vortex. Something out there," he gestured vaguely toward the wall, "is blocking us. We ran right into it, and it's stopped us in our tracks. Which of course isn't possible, because no one but the Time Lords and a few Daleks could access the Time Vortex, and even then they'd need a ship, and they're all gone! There's only one Dalek left, and there's no way it could pilot a ship on its own." The Doctor tried to sort out the possibilities, but he was coming up blank. Even if that was a ship out there, the TARDIS wouldn't have stopped, because the other ship would be moving, too.

Martha looked blankly at the doctor before asking slowly "So we're stuck, out in the Time Vortex, and you have no idea why." She sincerely hoped she was wrong, but he just nodded. "Don't you have a window in here somewhere?" she thought she remembered one, once.

"Of course!" he cried, jumping towards a blank screen. "The viewscreen! Martha, you're a genius!"

He pushed a few buttons and the screen came to life. It showed the swirling blues and reds and greens of the Vortex, and right in front of the TARDIS sat a huge black form. On closer inspection it turned out to be a ship of some kind, surrounded by a glowing transparent shield. It was huge and black, with no windows. The Doctor stared at it, the oddest expression on his face, somewhere between fear and wonder.

"That's a Dalek prison ship, Martha." He said quietly, in a strangely emotionless voice. He didn't take his eyes off the screen as he spoke. "Daleks almost never took prisoners, but when they captured someone they thought had information they wanted, they sent them to a ship like that. The ships were completely automated. It was entirely self-reliant. It ran itself, not even using droids, and each prisoner was fed, watered, and tortured systematically and automatically. They were asked a series of questions, their answers being recorded, and if they didn't answer they were tortured. Every sound they made was recorded and gone over by Daleks later. If they got their answers, and found them to be true, the prisoner was killed. If not, the cycle of questions and torture continued until the Daleks got what they wanted or the prisoner died. It took a long time to die on a prison ship. The ships were programmed to inflict pain just to the point of death, without crossing the line.

"The Daleks were careful, Martha. They didn't want anyone to find the ships, so they enclosed them in a timesheild. The shield enabled the ship to be suspended, completely still, in the Time Vortex. They were extremely hard to find, because a ship traveling through the Vortex can't stop to look around. The only way to find a prison ship was to run into one, and that almost never happened. Because the ship didn't move, the time inside the shield never changed. It always remained the same instant that the ship was put into the Vortex, even though the people inside the ship could move around as if they were advancing through time. The only thing was they never aged. They always stayed the same age that they were when the shield was erected.

"One last thing, Martha- the ships were programmed to self-destruct when there were no live prisoners left on board."

The Doctor turned to look straight at Martha, and his eyes were bright with tears.

"The fact that that ship is there means there's a prisoner onboard. Someone is alive on that ship."

He moved very quickly after that. He programmed the TARDIS to bypass the timesheild and materialize inside the prison ship. He had to keep moving, keep his mind off of what was happening. If he let himself think, he might start having dangerous thoughts. Thoughts about being the last Time Lord, or maybe not. If the person on that ship was a Time Lord…

His thoughts were thankfully interrupted by the thunk of the TARDIS finishing her materialization. Not bothering to look and see if Martha was following, he tore out of the TARDIS and into the bleak corridors of the prison ship. The sound of a door closing behind him told him Martha was there. He gestured for her to follow and set off, following blind instinct. He hoped he'd be able to find his way back to his ship.

Partway down the corridor, he noticed a large black blast mark on the wall. Several more were evident further down. Seeing them, he stopped short, and Martha almost ran into him. He stared at the blast marks, stunned. "No…" he whispered. He ran over to one and sniffed it carefully. His eyes widened "No." He repeated.

"What is it?" asked Martha, concerned. He looked as though he was seeing a ghost.

"I know that burn pattern, Martha. I'd recognize it anywhere, and it shouldn't be here. Unless…" He looked down the corridor, then back at Martha, then down the hall once more. He felt a huge grin creeping over his face. "Come on, Martha." He raced down the hallway, Martha at his heels.

At the end of the hall was a single, unmarked steel door. He gazed at it thoughtfully, torn between terrible fear and painful hope. He looked at Martha, who was watching him worriedly.

"Do you know how to get back to the TARDIS?" he asked. She nodded. "Then go." When she opened her mouth to speak, he held up a hand. "No, don't argue. Whoever-_what_ever is behind that door, it may not be friendly. Who knows what might have happened to someone who has spent all these years since the Time War being tortured for information they probably already gave up, but there was no one to receive it? I don't want you getting hurt, Martha. Go back to the TARDIS. If I don't show up in an hour, the TARDIS will leave without me and take you home. Now go."

She nodded sadly and turned back. He watched her go, wondering why he had sent her away. Maybe he just needed to do this alone. He turned back to the door and, finding it unlocked, took a deep breath and went inside.

At first, he couldn't see anything. The room was pitch-dark inside, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he saw a bare metal room with paneled walls made of the same steel as the door. He listened carefully, and was startled to hear low, raspy breathing coming from the corner. When he looked that way, his hearts almost stopped.

There, huddled in the corner, head bent down against the light, crouched a shaking figure. He walked slowly over to it and crouched down beside the person. Longish hair obscured most of the face, and the clothes had long since turned mostly to rags, but he could tell the person was female. The Doctor noticed that she was crouching on a large piece of some kind of black fabric, and he found himself wishing he could see what it was. He spoke softly to her.

"It's all right. I'm here to help you. I'm going to get you out. I'm called the Doctor. Let me help you, please."

"Oh, stop it." The broken voice came from the huddled form. "Haven't you done this enough? I know he's not coming back. He died, remember? So you can stop doing this. I know it's not real."

She finally raised her head to look at him, and he found himself looking into a pair of hopeless brown eyes he knew almost better than his own.

You want more story, I want reviews. We can make a deal, yes?


	2. Chapter 2

"_Oh, stop it." The broken voice came from the huddled form. "Haven't you done this enough? I know he's not coming back. He died, remember? So you can stop doing this. I know it's not real."_

_She finally raised her head to look at him, and he found himself looking into a pair of hopeless brown eyes he knew almost better than his own. _

He was speechless for a long moment, and then he managed a whisper.

"Ace?"

He stared at the girl, trying to figure out if it really was her. The face looked right, but it was hard to tell in the dark.

"You know it's me." came the scornful reply. "You've been using this stupid trick for ages. Inject me with something, make me hallucinate, make me think he's come back, make me think I've got hope, then make him disappear. It's not going to work any more. I've given up. I've finally accepted it. He's dead." Her voice broke. "You might as well kill me now. I'm done fighting. I don't care any more, not since he's gone. I've got no reason to care."

The Doctor's eyes filled. He had had no idea she thought so much of him. And to use that against her…His anger toward her captors grew terrible. Was there nothing the Daleks would not do? He looked again at the girl in front of him and was about to speak when she beat him to it.

"I have to admit, though." She said with a wry smile. "My hallucinations aren't usually this good-looking."

Any doubts he had held about the girl's identity left him then. Her spirit may have been damaged, but that smile was all Ace. He took her chin lightly, resisting her attempts to pull away.

"Look at me, Ace. It's me. I'm not dead. I survived the War. If I had known you were here, I would have come sooner. I am so, so sorry. I know that doesn't even begin to cover it, but I am."

She stopped struggling, and he could see, in her eyes, a faint hope. "You can't be. The Doctor is gone. How can you be him?" her voice, like her eyes, held a poorly- disguised hope.

He smiled at her. "Now Ace, you don't mean to say you honestly thought I was gone for good? Look into my eyes, Ace, and tell me what you see there. Then you can decide who I am."

She grew immediately suspicious. This, too, was pure Ace. "What, so you can do some nasty magic trick and get me stuck? I don't think so, scumbag. You keep your eyes to yourself. Oh, I wish I had my Nitro!"

He could have laughed aloud. Her spirit was not completely irreparable, it seemed. "Trust me, Ace. No funny business, I promise. I'll even keep my hands behind my back if it makes you feel better." He laced his fingers together behind his back to show her he was serious. She still looked dubious, but she leaned forward carefully and looked warily into his eyes. After a moment, she spoke.

"I see Gallifrey. I see the Time Lords. I see a planet burning, and a Dalek fleet burning with them. I see fear, and loneliness. I see Earth and a blonde girl. I see love and hope and terrible loss. I see a dark skinned girl. I see….I see myself. I see longing and desperation and awe and passion and fire and ice and I see…"

Whatever she saw surprised her, because she suddenly drew back, her eyes wide and wondering. She looked at him, amazed and scared, hardly daring to hope. She spoke quietly and tentatively, her voice filled with powerful emotions.

"Professor?" she asked. The Doctor grinned. He had thought he was never going to hear that again. He opened his arms wide.

"Hello, Ace." He said. She stared at him, her eyes bright with tears, before reaching out and hugging herself to him tightly, crying. He held her gently as she cried, murmuring soothing words in her ear.

Eventually, he eased himself out of her grasp and stood up carefully. "It's time to get you out of here." He told her. "Can you stand?"

"I don't know." She said. "Both my legs have been banged up pretty bad." She attempted to stand, using him to pull herself up, but she collapsed with a cry of pain. He caught her before she hit the ground, and in one swift motion swept her off her feet and into his arms. He noticed that she weighed much, much less than she should have. She rested her head against him and to all appearances either went to sleep or passed out. He noticed that she had pulled her jacket on before she stood, and that the jacket was in good shape. "So that's what you were sitting on." He murmured. "I thought so."

Being careful not to jostle her too much, because every movement, however slight, brought forth a small groan or cry, he walked out of that room of horrors, his new-found hope safe in his arms.

I know it's a short chapter, but that just seemed like the best place to stop. I have more, _if_ I get reviews.


	3. Chapter 3

_Being careful not to jostle her too much, because every movement, however slight, brought forth a small groan or cry, he walked out of that room of horrors, his new-found hope safe in his arms._

He moved slowly back to the TARDIS, but still arrived safely before his hour was up. When he was in hearing range, he called out "Martha! Open the doors! I've got my hands full, so I can't!"

Martha heard the suppressed joy in his voice and ran to open the door. What she saw made her gasp. There stood the Doctor, a huge smile on his face, looking down at a person he held in his arms. There was an expression on his face that Martha had never seen before; full of such tenderness that she knew at once this was someone important to him. She took a closer look at the girl. She had hair that would probably be brown if it were clean, and it had fallen into her face, covering it. She looked to be about Martha's height, maybe a little shorter, if she were to stand. She was wearing a big black bomber jacket covered in bright patches. Something about the jacket reminded Martha of a conversation she had had with the Doctor a week or two earlier.

"_She was very pretty, Martha. She had brown hair, and she loved messing around with it. Up, down, braided, ponytail, always something different. She had this jacket, too, that she always wore. Black, it was, with patches sewn all over it. I don't know where half of them came from. I never thought to ask…The Time War started, and I never saw her again. I don't even know if she fought in the War, or was sent back to Earth. I will never know. I lost her, Martha. I miss her."_

"No way." Martha said, looking from the girl to the Doctor. "Is that-is that her? The human girl who became a Time Lady?"

The Doctor couldn't stop smiling. "Yep, this is her. This is my long-lost Ace. Now, I need to get her to the hospital room. Follow me." He walked into the TARDIS, and as the doors closed behind him, there was a tremendous BOOM, and the whole TARDIS shook.

"What was that?" Martha cried.

"That was the Dalek prison ship exploding. No more prisoners on board, remember? We should be moving again now." The Doctor kept walking, carrying Ace, who was still out cold. Martha followed, saying "You have a hospital room? In here? And you never told me?"

Over his shoulder, the Doctor answered "You never asked."

"I shouldn't think I would need to ask, not about something like that!"

"Like what?" he asked. He had stopped in front of a door and was waiting for her to open it.

"Like, I don't know, something important! I mean, I'm a doctor, or at least I'm going to be, so it would make sense that I'd want to know about a hospital room!" She opened the door and went inside.

The Doctor looked thoughtful. "I never thought of that." He said, following her into the room.

The room was a typical hospital-type room, with blank white walls and two beds, separated by curtains, to one side. Cabinets lined the walls, a waist-high counter ran along one wall, and the rest of the space was cluttered with a few chairs and various medical equipment from all over the universe, past, present, and future.

The Doctor walked over to the nearest bed and laid Ace gently on it. She shifted and moaned. He turned to Martha. "Help me get her jacket off." He said.

Together, they began easing Ace's arms out of her jacket. They had to move very slowly, because each time they touched her she cried out softly, though without waking, and they both winced and stopped at each pitiful cry. Eventually, they got her arms out and the Doctor half-lifted her while Martha slid her jacket out from under her. She held it up and made a face.

"This coat could do with a wash. Do you have a washing machine somewhere around here, as well?" She was half joking.

"Um, yeah, somewhere. Uh, go out and take a right, three doors down on your left. Use the middle machine. The others might eat the jacket, if they're hungry." He answered her distractedly, never taking his eyes off the still form on the bed.

"Oh, ok then." Martha answered, her voice blank with surprise. She walked out of the room, looking over her shoulder to see the Doctor pull up a chair next to the bed in which his friend lay. "_Wow" _she thought. "_He really seems to love her. But it's not romantic love, I don't think. It's more like….affectionate love. Yes, that's it. Sort of fatherly."_

The Doctor reached out to brush Ace's hair out of her face, seeing it clearly for the first time.

"Oh, Ace." He murmured. Her face was mottled blue, black, and yellow-green with bruises, new and old. There were cuts, too, lots of them, but they weren't deep, thankfully. Looking down her body, he could see now that every bit of her exposed skin was covered in the same bruises, cuts, and scrapes. Her right leg looked broken, and her left ankle was badly swollen. He wondered how long it would have taken to build up so many injuries. He gazed at her face, peaceful in unconsciousness, sadly.

"What have they done to you?" He reached out, almost without thinking, and tapped her nose gently.

At his touch, she opened one eye slightly and managed a weak smile. "'What haven't they done' might be a better question, Professor." She said. "And the answer would be 'not much'."

"Oh, Ace." He repeated hopelessly. It hurt him to see her like this, and not be able to do anything about it. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. If I had known, If I had had any idea you were alive, I would've come, I would've been there, I-" he broke off when she raised a tired finger to his lips.

"I know." She said. "And that's enough, just knowing. It wasn't so bad, anyway, not really. I mean, it hurt, of course, but I didn't tell them anything." Her eyes flashed with a trace of their old defiance. "And as long as I knew you were out there, safe, I was fine. They wanted to know were you were, that's why they captured me, so I knew that as long as they didn't kill me, you were still alive. I just hoped you'd eventually find out, and come." Her eyes clouded over with memories. "But then a Time Lord came in, I don't know his name, and he told me it was all over. The Daleks were all but gone; the Time Lords were all dead. I didn't believe him at first. How could all the Time Lords be dead? I asked him about you. He looked at me and laughed. 'Oh, yeah.' He said. 'That one's dead. He ended everything. He was in the middle of the end. He's dead.' I knew he was telling the truth. It took me a while to believe it, but I did eventually. It was all over for me, then. I don't even know how long I just sat there, taking whatever they dished out. I had given up. Then you walk in." Here, her voice filled with wonder. "You walk in, and suddenly it's all right. You rescued me. And here I am, looking at my Professor, and we're both alive."

"Well, that debatable." He teased. "I don't know if I'd call you alive."

Ace laughed, and the Doctor marveled at it. After having gone through so much, to be able to laugh! "That's true, Professor." She said finally. "I don't know if I'd call me alive either. However, I do know I'd be a lot more alive if I had some Nitro-9 with me." she looked at him hopefully.

Now it was his turn to laugh. "I suppose we might have some around here somewhere." He said, loving the way her eyes lit up ay the prospect of getting her hands on her favorite explosive. "Speaking of which," he added casually, "I'm pretty sure I saw some burn marks on that ship that were made by a chemical mixture that included nitroglycerin. Would you know anything about that?"

She grinned up at him. "I might." She allowed. "I figured if I was going down, I might as well take a couple of the dirty toerags with me. I ran out eventually, of course, but I wreaked havoc until I did."

"I can imagine." He said fondly, and then asked something that had been on his mind for some time. "Ace, did you graduate? From the Academy, I mean."

"Yes, I did." She answered with quiet pride. "With honors, in fact. You are looking at a fully-fledged Time Lady. I was even going to get a TARDIS, but then the war started, and the Gallifrey-born cadets got theirs first. I was traveling with one of them when I got captured." Anything else she had been planning to say was lost in a huge yawn.

The Doctor reached down to the end of the bed and caught the sheet, pulling it up to cover Ace's raggedly clothed, painfully thin body.

"Go to sleep, Ace." He said. "We can talk more when you wake."

Her eyes were already closing, but she looked up at him with sudden fear. "Don't leave me alone." She begged him. "Please, don't leave."

His hearts went out to her, and for a moment he saw the scared young teen who had relied so much on him, and whom he had let down so often.

"It's okay, Ace." He said. "You're safe here."

"Safe is where you are, Professor." She told him simply.

He almost choked up, then, to see such simple yet utter trust in him. He'd forgotten the depth of her faith.

"I'm not going anywhere." He promised. "I'll stay right here."

She looked up at him uncertainly for a moment more, then nodded, closed her eyes, and fell asleep in minutes. He sat by her bed and after a moment put his hand on hers, lying palm up on the sheets. He smiled when she closed her hand around his and held it close to her as she slept.


	4. Chapter 4

_She looked up at him uncertainly for a moment more, then nodded, closed her eyes, and fell asleep in minutes. He sat by her bed and after a moment put his hand on hers, lying palm up on the sheets. He smiled when she closed her hand around his and held it close to her as she slept. _

He was still sitting there when Martha returned from her quest for a washing machine. She stopped in the doorway and just watched him for a moment. He looked so happy, sitting there, watching over his friend's sleep. There was such sweetness in the moment, such protective tenderness, that she felt it would be somehow wrong of her to intrude and break the silence of his willing vigil.

She noticed something strange about his expression. It was too…deep, somehow. He was happy, yes, but there was something more as well, a deep joy she couldn't find a cause for. Suddenly, she realized where it came from. He had just found out that he wasn't the only Time Lord anymore. The only Gallifreyan, yes, but not the only Time Lord. On top of that, he had rediscovered what seemed to be an old and treasured friend. Martha knew how much his past meant to him, especially the people in it, and she was glad for him.

She was also a little jealous of the sleeping Ace, whom the Doctor was looking at with such affection. He would never look at her that way, not that she would have wanted him to, if she could have more…but that wasn't going to happen, and she knew it. He had already found his true love, and lost her as well. Still, Martha couldn't help feeling a pang of envy toward this girl, who could conjure such looks without even trying.

After several minutes of watching him watch over Ace's sleep, Martha began to feel like something of a peeping Tom, an unseen watcher of an almost sacred scene. So, to break the feeling, she walked slowly over to the Doctor and stood beside his chair, looking at him instead of Ace. When she did look at the girl, she gave an automatic gasp when she saw the condition the other was in. She reached out to feel for a pulse, out of pure habit, but the Doctor reached out and grabbed her wrist lightly.

"Don't wake her." He whispered, and she nodded. Then, because the doctor in her had to know, she asked "Is the rest of her the same way?"

He nodded. "All that I could see. I didn't want to roll up her sleeves or pant legs, what little she has left, because I didn't want to hurt her more. Every time I touch her, I see her wince, though I know she'd never admit to pain. I wouldn't touch her legs anyhow, though. The right one's broken, I think, and the left ankle's swollen, probably sprained at least. A couple of ribs are cracked, too."

Martha frowned. She was mentally calculating how long Ace must have undergone intense beatings to rack up her current injuries, and she didn't like the figures she was coming up with. To take her mind off of that disturbing line of thought, she asked quietly "How old is she?"

"Twenty, I think, or somewhere around there, physically." The Doctor answered. "She was twenty when the Time War started, and I got the idea she was captured near the beginning. Of course she has been her current age, whatever that is, for some years now, ever since the end of the War, thanks to the prison ship's timesheild. She's young, Martha." He added with sudden solemnity. "She's still so young, and she shouldn't be. She should be…oh, I don't know, at least mid-forties by now, maybe fifties even. I should have come back for her sooner. I should have been there with her. I should have prevented this."

Martha put her hand over his free one. "This isn't your fault." She said gently. "It's those…what are they? -Daleks, that's it- Daleks' fault. They did this to her, not you. You didn't start the War. In fact, from what I've heard, you ended it."

He smiled bitterly. "I thought I had." He said. "But a few Daleks survived, didn't they? As long as they're out there, the War is never over. And their prisons survived, too. Do you realize that since the ships never got the order to stop interrogating prisoners, they would have kept right on their regular routine, torturing the inmates-torturing Ace-right on schedule, because there was no one to tell them the War was over, no one to order them to strop? How can I look at her, and know that, and not feel guilty?"

Martha had no answer to that. Instead, she hugged him hard, told him she was going to bed, and headed for the door. Halfway there, she paused as she remembered something and said over her shoulder "Oh, and Doctor? I found the laundry room. Ace's jacket should be washed and dried by tomorrow."

He nodded, too absorbed in his own thoughts to speak, and she continued out the door, leaving him alone with his thoughts and his injured friend. Later, when she returned just before bed to check on him, she found that he'd fallen asleep, slumped forward with his head on the coverlet next to Ace. Martha smiled fondly, shook her head, and continued on to her room and her bed.

Another short chapter, I know. Sorry. Anyway, there are 2 more chapters already written, but after I post them if I continue it it'll be a while between posts. Just wanted to warn everyone who's bothered to read this far.


	5. Chapter 5

_He nodded, too absorbed in his own thoughts to speak, and she continued out the door, leaving him alone with his thoughts and his injured friend. Later, when she returned just before bed to check on him, she found that he'd fallen asleep, slumped forward with his head on the coverlet next to Ace. Martha smiled fondly, shook her head, and continued on to her room and her bed._

_She was crouched on the floor. She could here the questions coming from the walls. "Where is the Doctor? Where is the Doctor?" "I don't know!" she sobbed. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!" Immediately, she tensed for the pain. Not that that helped any when it came. The metal bar sot out of the wall and hit her square in the chest, knocking her back into the wall. She thought she heard ribs crack. As the blows continued to rain down, she felt herself losing unconsciousness. The last thought she had before the blackness took her was 'Let the Professor stay safe. Please.'_

Ace's yell woke the Doctor the next morning. It wasn't a scream- Ace didn't scream- but it was just as terrified as the best (or worst) of Mel's. Hearing it, the Doctor woke up immediately, and was out of his chair, tensed for a fight, before he had time to register why he was awake. Beside him, Ace was sitting upright and struggling with the sheets that had become entangled around her legs overnight. When he didn't see any danger in the room, he went at once to Ace and calmed her, grabbing her upper arms lightly and asking her what was the matter.

She looked back at him for a moment with wild eyes, eyes that were bright yellow in the light, and then slowly she recognized him, and quieted. "It was nothing, really, Professor." She said. "Just a bad dream. I was in the prison ship again. It wasn't pretty." She shuddered, remembering. "Then when I woke up, I didn't know where I was at first, and I panicked. Sorry." Then she added, with something in her voice that bordered on wonder, "So I really am here. Yesterday really happened. I thought it might have been a dream." Seeing his rumpled clothes, she said happily "You stayed."

He watched her face until he was satisfied that her eyes were once again thoroughly brown before leaning over and hugging her gently. "The ship is gone, Ace, destroyed as soon as you left it. And of course I stayed. Didn't I say I was going to? I see you seem to be feeling better anyhow, nightmare or no. You couldn't even sit up yesterday."

"I do feel better." She said decisively. "It's this place. The TARDIS." She looked around. "D'you know, Professor, that for the first time since I left you to go to the Academy, I feel like I'm home?" She looked at him then, her expression full of something neither of them could quite name. The utter hopelessness he had seen in her eyes the day before was gone, replaced with a warmth they hadn't held for many years, not since the Daleks had first found her.

He couldn't find the words to answer her, and was relieved when Martha ran in the door, shouting "What's wrong? I heard a yell!" The Doctor looked at Ace quickly, hoping Martha hadn't startled her, and was glad to see amusement in her face as she watched Martha. It was she who spoke.

"Nothing's wrong here. I just saw some…unpleasant things in my dreams." She turned to the Doctor. "Who's this, then, Professor?" she asked, jerking a thumb at Martha. "Is she the latest one?" She smiled then, at Martha, to show she was joking.

"Well, technically you met her last night, but you were unconscious at the time, so I don't think you noticed her. Let me introduce you properly. Ace, this is Martha Jones, med student and doctor-to-be. Martha, this is my young friend Ace." The Doctor and Ace shared a smile at that, and Martha wondered what the joke was. She smiled at Ace, and held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Ace." She said, and meant it. She instinctively liked the girl. "I understand you used to travel with this one, a while ago?" She waved a hand in the Doctor's general direction.

"Yeah, I did. Would've kept at it, too, if he hadn't sent me off 'for my own good'". She made a face at him. "He looked a bit different back then, though. Shorter, and older, with dark hair and that funny suit and hat he always wore. And he never went anywhere without his umbrella."

"My clothes were not funny!" said the Doctor indignantly. "They were the height of fashion!"

Ace and Martha stared at him for a moment and burst out laughing. He blushed and muttered "Well, maybe not quite the height. But that was lifetimes ago. Three, in fact. My fashion sense has improved since then, obviously." He looked happily at his current attire, his pinstripe suit and long brown coat.

As the two kept laughing, Ace wincing as she did so, he glared at them for a moment before resigning himself to their ridicule and remarking to Martha "I told you you'd like her."

Martha stopped laughing long enough to agree with him.

I'd really appreciate reviews, if you don't mind.


	6. Chapter 6

_Ace and Martha stared at him for a moment and burst out laughing. He blushed and muttered "Well, maybe not quite the height. But that was lifetimes ago. Three, in fact. My fashion sense has improved since then, obviously." He looked happily at his current attire, his pinstripe suit and long brown coat. _

_As the two kept laughing, Ace wincing as she did so, he glared at them for a moment before resigning himself to their ridicule and remarking to Martha "I told you you'd like her."_

_Martha stopped laughing long enough to agree with him. _

It was several weeks until Ace was strong enough to get out of bed, leaning heavily on both the Doctor and Martha in order to stand, and only using her left leg, because the right hadn't healed. By then, most of her bruises were fading, though it would be several weeks more before they were gone. As soon as she could, she enlisted the Martha's and the Doctor's help in getting her back to her own room, where she was delighted to discover her rucksack, and her Nitro, where the Doctor had left it. After returning to her room, she progressed rapidly. Her muscles regained their former tone, her thin frame filled out to a healthy weight, and the last of the dark marks faded from her skin. In another month's time, her leg was healed and she could move about well on her own. But it was almost two months more before an incident occurred that convinced the Doctor of her complete recovery. It was a small thing.

The Doctor, passing Ace in the hall, called out a sleepy "Good Morning.", to which she replied cheerfully "It's absolutely wicked, Professor." Turning around to look at her, he noticed a slight yet powerful change in her face. It took him a moment to pinpoint it. The spark, the bit of fire that made her unquestionably Ace, which had been extinguished during her long years aboard the prison ship, was finally back in her eye. Knowing she'd not want a big fuss about it, he just smiled to himself and continued on to breakfast, where he joined Martha at the table and waited for Ace to arrive.

After the three of them had finished eating, the Doctor remarked casually to Ace "You know, I can drop you off any time, if you'd like." Seeing the alarm in her eyes, he hastened to explain. "I'm not kicking you out, Ace-you know I wouldn't do that. I'm just saying that should you get tired of being shunted around through space and time in an old blue box, or if you just want to go somewhere and settle down, I'll take you anywhere or anywhen. Just let me know."

Ace looked at him steadily for a minute, and then said firmly "I'm not leaving. I made a promise a long time ago never to leave your side, and I'm keeping that promise. No;" she said as the Doctor opened his mouth to argue; "You don't need to release me from the promise. It's willing, really. You need someone to watch your back anyway, someone you can trust. So you're stuck with me. And if you want, me gone, well, just try it." She gave him a grin of pure mischief, and it was then that Martha realized life was about to get very interesting, as the TARDIS had acquired another, permanent passenger.

This is the last (i think) installment. I'm not sure whether or not to continue. Input and reviews would be appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey, Professor! Catch!" Ace's call made the doctor look up just in time to see something flying towards his head. Reflexively, he reached up and caught it. Looking down, he realized he was holding a silver can. With no cap. He yelled and dropped it quickly, and then he heard Ace cracking up behind him. He turned to see the girl in question doubled over laughing. He glared at her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"It was empty, Professor," Ace gasped out between fits of giggling. "It was an extra one. But the look on your face-!" She collapsed on the floor, laughing even harder.

The Doctor sighed, smiling, and turned back to the closet in front of him.

Martha had "taken the weekend off", as she put it, to go visit her family, so he and Ace were cleaning out her room, which over the years had become a sort of dumping ground for old, useless things that the Doctor couldn't quite bring himself to throw out. The closet was the worst place in the room, so he had decided to start there. Ace had been cleaning out under her bed when she found the spare can, and apparently hadn't been able to resist uncapping it and throwing it at him to scare him. But he could feel her eyes on him now. She was worried she'd gone too far. She hadn't seen him smile.

She was like that now. Still trying to figure out this new him, trying to feel him out and discover just how far he would go. He was very different than she was used to, he knew that. Her old Professor would never have approved of her lobbing an empty Nitro-9 can at his head. He didn't mind, now, but she didn't know that. He was doing his best to be patient with her and help her get to know him. He tried to help her find her Professor in him, and he thought it was working. She still looked at him a little strangely now and again, but he also saw the light in her eyes when he tapped her nose, and heard the lilt in her laughter when she poked fun at him, and the pride in her face when he told her 'very good' or 'well done', or when she figured something out without his help. So he knew she was seeing her Professor more and more in him, and she was becoming much more comfortable around him. Truth be told, he had been surprised at how quickly she had accepted him. Whatever she had seen in his eyes all those months ago had convinced her. She just had to be sure. She wasn't as suspicious as she used to be, though- it seemed the Doctor was not the only one who had changed.

He turned slowly, enjoying himself, and faced her solemnly, still holding the can. He felt immediately ashamed of keeping her in suspense when he saw the anguished look on her face. He grinned, and she smiled back, relieved.

Seeing that she was still nervous, he said "I know I shouldn't have acted mad. But the look on your face!"

She stuck her tongue out at him and threw a pillow. They were both laughing now. Ace was having trouble breathing. She was so happy here, with her Professor. She still couldn't believe t was really him, but it was. He was different, true, but she could see that he was still himself. She had known him better than anyone, and so she found him still, in the look on his face when he was deep in thought or when he knew more than he was telling. She heard him in his voice when he was worried and saw him in the twinkle in his eyes. And truth be told, she wouldn't have minded if her Professor had been a little more like he was now. They probably could have avoided a lot of trouble that way. Then again, he seemed to get in as much trouble now as he did when she first met him, so maybe not. It was nice to know his sense of humor had improved a little, at least.

"I'm bored of cleaning." she announced suddenly. "Let's go do something."

He turned to look at her. "As I recall, Ace, 'something' for you usually involves, oh, say, bringing down an entire system of government, or almost being turned into a giant, horse-riding cheetah, or getting yourself trapped by an attack squad of Daleks, or burning a house down. With a side of blowing something up, for good measure."

"Yeah, well," she said, unrepentant. "So, you wanna do something? Or would you rather me wander around the TARDIS all day?" She had him there, and she knew it. The look of alarm on his face gave him away.

"Oh, no, that's quite all right, Ace." He sometimes slipped back into his old speech mannerisms around her for a sentence or two. "We can go 'do something', as you put it."

"All right! I thought I was going to DIE in here, seriously!" He laughed. She could act so much like a teen, sometimes. Well, physically she almost was, but still. He smiled fondly at her as he followed her out of the room. There as no one quite like Ace. He really had missed her.

She was waiting for him at the door, her rucksack slung over one shoulder. He looked at it warily as they left the TARDIS side by side.

"What would I find in there, if I worked up the nerve to open it?"

"A bottle of water, a baseball bat, and a deck of playing cards," she lied cheerfully, except for the part about the bat. The handle could be seen sticking out from under the bag's flap. They both knew what was in the sack. Inwardly, the Doctor smiled He hoped fervently she wouldn't find an excuse to use the real contents of the bag-silver cans of her homemade explosive-but was almost positive she would. He also wondered when she had found time to whip up this latest batch. Briefly considering telling her to leave the rucksack in the TARDIS, he quickly decided it wasn't worth it, instead asking

"Why a baseball bat?"

"I know you love all your fancy gadgets and stuff, Professor, but personally I think you should always have a good ol' bat handy, just in case your fancy toys give out. That and some Nitro 9. Not that I have any," she added hastily.

He laughed. "Of course not, why would you? You're a good girl and always do what you're told. The bat might be a good idea, though. You never know when a Dalek'll turn up just begging for a good whack."

"Yeah. You really never know." Her voice was subdued suddenly, her face solemn. He had forgotten, for a moment, what she had been through recently. It was too easy to fall back into their old, familiar bantering. Without saying anything, he sidled closer to her, just near enough to brush her shoulder with his, a silent reassurance. _I'm here. _

She shook off her mood, saying "Do you think you could, you know, 'fix up' the bat for me? Like you did with my old one? That one was seriously wicked." She sounded wistful.

"Nah, sorry, Ace, any chance of that blew up with the Hand of Omega. Now!" They had reached a busy intersection, and the Doctor looked around before offering his arm to Ace. "Shall we tour the city, Milady?"

She rolled her eyes at him and threaded her arm through his. "Lead on, Milord." They shared a smile as they wound their way through the steady stream of foot-traffic on the sidewalk.

You have no idea how much I'd love reviews. Over 900 hits on this story but only 6 reviews? That is sad. ; )


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Wait for it…..wait for it…..I still don't own Doctor Who!

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_She rolled her eyes at him and threaded her arm through his. "Lead on, Milord." They shared a smile as they wound their way through the steady stream of foot-traffic on the sidewalk._

The two of them had been touring the city for hours, and Ace was having more fun than she'd had in quite a while. She had never been to 2007. The closest she'd gotten was the late 80s, and things had changed a lot since then. She was entranced with the city, gazing around and soaking everything up with wide-eyed wonder. Mentally, she was comparing the present-day city with the one she had known. She thought the Doctor knew that, because almost everything he pointed out to her had been built or added to since 1990. She appreciated the way he showed her everything he knew would interest her without drawing attention to the fact that she was interested because it was all new to her. It seemed the Professor was a bit more sensitive than he had been.

"Hey, Ace! Look at that! D'you see it?" The Doctor pointed excitedly at yet another new skyscraper.

"They're difficult to miss, Professor," she teased, laughing at the way his face fell comically at her words. "But yes, I do see the oversized- Gordon Bennet!" And without another word, she reached over her shoulder, whipped out her baseball bat, and took off. Mentally preparing himself for all heck breaking loose, suddenly and most likely violently, the Doctor started his resigned pursuit.

Keeping track of Ace had never been easy, and following her through crowded streets and sidewalks proved no different. Again and again, he would lose her, only to catch a glimpse of a black flight jacket, or the tip of a baseball bat. Then, he would redouble his efforts, and keep her in sight for a while before losing her again. She was definitely running towards something, but he had no clue what. He just hoped he could stay close to her until she reached it.

Finally, _finally_, she slowed, and the Doctor could catch up to her. He stood beside her, ready to lay into her for leaving him with no warning, when he saw the expression on her face. Suddenly nervous, he followed her gaze, and stared in utter shock at the scene before him.

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Want to know what he's seeing? Well, your guess is as good as mine, 'cause I don't know yet! I'd love suggestions, though. In fact, I kinda need them before I can write more. I know! You can put your suggestion in your review!!!! 


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N- Thanks to Mini Librarian, Protector of the Gray Fortress, and Nighthowler for reviewing, and thanks to Mini Librarian for the suggestion.

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_Finally, finally, she slowed, and the Doctor could catch up to her. He stood beside her, ready to lay into her for leaving him with no warning, when he saw the expression on her face. Suddenly nervous, he followed her gaze, and stared in utter shock at the scene before him. _

"Holy…" Ace didn't bother finishing her sentiment. She didn't think the Professor would approve. Nothing she could think of really did justice to the situation, anyway. Really, what exclamation could possibly express the shock of finding an old, rusty-looking Cyberman ship in the middle of a bustling city? The fact that no one but the two of them seemed to notice it didn't help any, either.

The passers-by didn't just 'not notice' it, either. Several people actually bumped into the ship and kept on walking as if nothing had happened. Maybe for them, nothing had. Who knew? Ace sure as heck didn't. She didn't know what was going on, but one thing she was fairly certain of was that Cyber-ships were not common in cities, whether the city was the one she remembered or not. Civilization hadn't advanced that much in 20 years. Neither had human acceptance of the unknown.

The Doctor's response reinforced that belief. He gazed up at the ship in awe and horror, looking as though he wasn't sure whether to run toward or away from the ship.

"Uh, Ace? What exactly were you chasing that led you here?" He muttered his question out of the side of his mouth, barely loud enough for her to hear.

"Oh, yeah!" In the confusion of their discovery, she had forgotten. "I could have sworn I heard a horse neighing…and I had to follow. I thought maybe someone had survived, and I needed to know. I'm sorry, Professor, I-I just-" She hung her head.

He placed a hand on his young charge's shoulder, rougher than he had intended. "What? Ace, why didn't you tell me? Let me see your eyes!"

She looked at him dutifully, and he saw that her eyes were as brown as ever. He sighed in relief. If Ace had gone feral….he shuddered. It didn't bear thinking about, to lose her, especially that way. Impulsively, he hugged her hard, picking her up and swinging her around quickly. She was startled into a laugh, and, just for a moment, everything was fine, and they were just the Professor and Ace. But of course, that couldn't last.

"Life forms detected. Contact the Cyberleader. I shall detain the beings and await further instructions." The voice, flat and metallic, was unmistakable. The Doctor whirled around, pushing Ace behind him and taking a protective stance in front of her. His mind was racing. If he could hold them off long enough, Ace might have a chance….but then he stopped, dumbfounded. There was nothing there, just the old, seemingly empty ship. Okay, this was getting creepy.

"Professor, what's going on?" Ace sounded scared. That never happened.

"Well…it could be a temporally-induced energy anomaly, reacting with our bio-patterns and dredging up old experiences, in which case none of this is real and we're both hallucinating, or it could be a trans-dimensional mini-rift, leaking the past into the present, or it could be a chronofluxing transubstantial manipulatrix." He had his glasses on now, and was stroking his chin thoughtfully.

She had followed most of what he said- years at the Academy helped with that- but that last bit had thrown her.

"What's a chrono," she didn't even try to remember what he'd said, "thing?"

He looked at her, a little sheepishly. "I just made that up. Didn't want to say 'timey-wimey occurrence that I've never seen before'."

"Oh." The Doctor hadn't seen anything like this before? That wasn't good. "So, what do we do now?"

He grinned, a real, Doctor-ish grin that had her grinning back for no reason at all. "Now, we go fishing."

And with that, he had run back to the TARDIS, keeping her close by his side, and had dug up a twisted piece of silver metal, which he had apparently stolen from the Cybermen some time ago. He had also retrieved a fishing rod, of all things. Then they were running again, back to the Cyber-ship. It hadn't moved. Without explaining anything (_Typical, _thought Ace), he attached the hook to the metal thing and cast the line in the direction of the ship. The metal thing started beeping.

"Professor, what are you doing?" She didn't really expect an answer- he had never been very forthcoming before- but it was worth a try.

"Oh, you know, a bit of fishing is all. You can fish for anything, Ace. You just need the right bait."

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Sorry for another short chapter. I still have no idea what's going on. The Doctor won't tell me, so I have to be patient and wait. And so do you. If the Cyberman sounds totally bogus, I'm sorry. I've only seen one episode with them in it, so I'm guessing. The references to the horse neighing and Ace 'going feral' are both pulled from the episode 'Survival'. If you have suggestions, I'm still open. Review please! 


	10. Chapter 10

"Professor, what are you doing?" She didn't really expect an answer- he had never been very forthcoming before- but it was worth a try.

"Oh, you know, a bit of fishing is all. You can fish for anything, Ace. You just need the right bait."

Ace looked at the Doctor more than a little strangely. She wondered if he was actually insane. It wouldn't surprise her, not after some of the things she knew he'd been through. She had been talking to Martha a few weeks ago- the two of them had gotten quite close- and didn't think the woman really understood what being the last Time Lord meant. Martha hadn't been there during the Great War, hadn't seen the millions of Dalek units, hadn't felt that terrible dread that comes from fighting a battle you know you can't win. She couldn't know the horror of watching as the Citadel of the Time Lords fell and the Matrix was no more. Ace knew. She'd been there, in the middle of it, fighting desperately to save the people she'd come to see as family and watching hopelessly as her friends died around her. She remembered being captured, how she had fought to get free, how her friends had seen her and reached out their hands to her, trying futilely to reach her, to save her even as she couldn't save them. How could Martha understand that? It was no wonder the Doctor was so chipper and weird all the time-he was masking feelings that even the Oncoming Storm couldn't face yet.

But this was a bit much- fishing in the middle of a busy street with no water in sight and a piece of _metal _as bait? Well, she supposed it was no weirder than a seemingly invisible Cyber-ship in the middle of the square. She smiled a little. Trust her Professor to come up with a solution, or at least a way to an explanation, that was even weirder than the thing that needed explaining. She was about to tease him about it when her breath caught in her throat.

There, coming around from the back of the ship, was a Cyberman. It looked different from the bucket-heads she had met. It seemed older, somehow, or maybe less evolved. That is, if metal-coated robot things evolved. She wasn't sure. The Cyber-cretin stopped when it saw the flashing metal bit and peered down at it nearsightedly. It started to reach for it, not noticing the fishing line, then apparently thought better of it, because it straightened up and walked off again. The Doctor looked over at Ace, his eyes lit up with excitement.

"Now comes the fun part!" He whispered, with a quick wink.

Ace could only watch in amazement as the Cyberman returned with another, presumably the Cyberleader. They both bent over the metal thing this time, and the Cyberleader started to pick it up when the Professor jerked the rod and pulled it out of its hand. As he did this, Ace felt him press something into her hand. She glanced down and grinned. He had given her her old slingshot and a small cloth sack. It had been ages since she'd seen either one. Opening the sack, she drew out a gold coin and fitted it to the elastic of the slingshot. Aiming carefully, she nodded briefly, to let the Professor know she was ready when he was. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod back, not looking away from the rod, which he was now reeling in. The Cyber-cretins began to follow it stupidly. Ace readied her slingshot, hoping her aim was as good as it had been. She couldn't afford to miss, not when missing could mean the Professor got hurt. As it turned out, she didn't need to shoot.

From the top of the Cyber-ship came a voice, jovial and throaty. "My, my, Doctor! You really do come up with the most ingenious schemes, don't you? And little Ace, thedear companion, back from the dead. Protective as always, I see. I meet you both at last. Such a pleasure."

The man standing atop the ship was a podgy, middle-aged man with a thick neck and a florid face. He was wearing what appeared to be an authentic Civil War Confederate uniform, complete with rifle and bayonet. A totally insincere smile was pasted on his face, and he bowed deeply when he was sure they were both looking at him.

"I don't believe you've had the honor if meeting me before. Or at least, if you have, it hasn't happened to me yet. Let me introduce myself. I am the Collector, a fellow time traveler, though instead of being the last one of my kind, I am the _only _one of my kind, more like your young friend there than you." He addressed this last comment the Doctor.

The Doctor tried to shift in front of Ace again, hindered by the fact that she was trying to shield him as well. In the end, they stood side by side as they always had. Ace surreptitiously grabbed the Doctor's hand, and he smiled a little. It was he who spoke.

"What do you want? You still haven't explained who you are. Well, _who _you are, yes, but not….what you….want." Realizing he had said the same thing twice, he stopped talking, looking vexed.

The Collector's smile grew into an unholy grin. "It's quite simple, really. I want you, both of you. You see, I have a unique gift. Early on in my life, I discovered that I had the ability to travel through time, just by wanting to. So I decided to put it to good use. I collect things, Doctor, one-of-a-kind things. You see this uniform? I got it off of a dead soldier at Antietam. I have long known of the Time Lords- everyone in the Nightside has; you've even been there a few times (I'm sure John Taylor would send his regards if he knew I was here. That celery trick of yours really came in handy, or so I'm told.)- but I didn't feel the need to collect one of my own until there was only one left. After all, where's the fun in collecting something that there are so many of? Of course, I want Ace, too. I mean, a _human _Time Lord? Really, who could resist?" He broke off as he noticed that the Cybermen were still walking toward the Doctor and Ace. "Stop it, you two." They stopped and stood still, to the Doctor's amazement. How could this man control them? He must have 'collected' them, as well, and done something to them.

He was confused, though. He remembered the Nightside. He had been there, that strange, secret city in the heart of London, hidden from the real world and reality. He visited from time to time, especially enjoying a quick recoup the Hawk's Wind Bar and Grill. However, he couldn't remember ever meeting this 'Collector', though now that he thought about it, the name sounded vaguely familiar. Suddenly, he remembered why. The Collector traveled through time, as he said, gathering objects he coveted from throughout time and space. It didn't matter to him who lived or died, as long as he got his prize in the end.

_Oh, no, _he thought. He turned to Ace. "Run," he told her. "Get away!" He hoped she'd listen. He thought she had time escape, and that's all that really mattered to him. Maybe she could find Martha, and get help. As long as she was away, though, he didn't care.

"I'm not leaving you!" she said, and he could see there would be no swaying her. So he left her alone, and gazed up at the Collector, who was talking again.

"Oh, no, Doctor. She can't run. It's useless to try. It's not just the Cybermen I've collected. Yetis are so useful as guards, wouldn't you agree?"

At first, the Doctor didn't understand what he meant. Then, to his horror, he heard a terrified shout. "Doctor!" He felt Ace's hand ripped out of his grasp, and whirled to see her being dragged away by one of the Tibetan robot Yetis. The look on of fear on her face broke his hearts. She fought the thing, but was no match for its metal muscles.

"Doctor! Please!" She had gotten one arm free and was reaching for him. He ran after her only to find himself restrained by another Yeti. He twisted, trying to break its hold, to get to Ace, but he couldn't get free. He could only watch as Ace was dragged away from him, into the black doorway of the Cyber-ship.

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I love cliffhangers almost as much as I love reviews!! Please review! 


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: 1st Chapter's Disclaimer still stands, plus the Collector, John Taylor, the Nightside, and the Hawk's Wind Bar and Grill belong to Stephen R. Green. (Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into a crossover, I'm only using the Collector because he's an awesome character and you can find Doctor Who references in every Nightside book. I'm just returning the favor.)

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The Collector stood back a little from the Doctor's enraged stare, but he nevertheless looked self-satisfied. "Now that I have a bit of leverage, let's begin the bargaining, shall we?" 

Ace struggled pointlessly against the disgustingly furry thing that held her tight. It felt like it was made of metal, which was weird. She briefly wondered if the Professor knew any more about what was going on than she did. The robot-creature-beast (Had the little man called it a Yeti?) took her along endless twisting corridors and ended up by shoving her roughly into a narrow, windowless cell. She hit the wall hard, wincing as the impact reawakened the pain in her recently healed ribs. She stood gingerly and examined the walls and door. No luck- they were featureless and smooth. They reminded her of something, but she couldn't quite remember…her eyes widened and she backed up against the wall as she remembered what it was. She wished she hadn't. Memories came rushing in- the Dalek prison, the little cell, the Professor dead, the fear, the _pain…_ she sank slowly to her knees, burying her head in her hands and trying not to cry out as she was overwhelmed with the force of old emotions and fresh memories.

She blindly threw her arms out, needing to feel something, _anything_. Her fingers found soft cloth- _her rucksack_! A tiny smile of pure evil crept on to her face. Oh, they would pay now.

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­­­­The Doctor glared at the Collector, standing smug and sure on his ship. He began to check his nails nonchalantly. 

"Give…her…back." He growled.

"That can be arranged. Or rather, it can be arranged for you to see her. I already told you, I plan to add you both to my collection of one-of-a-kinds. Our little meeting here is simply gong to decide whether I lock you up together or not." Glancing at the Doctor, he added, "And from the way you're looking at me at the moment, I doubt that's going to happen."

The Doctor realized that he could do nothing at the moment, and that he was no help to Ace like this. He sagged, defeated. "I'll do whatever you want," he said quietly. "Just…let her go. You don't need her. She's not a true Time Lord, and I wouldn't think as picky a person as you would go for anything less than the real thing."

The Collector paused, considering. "Perhaps you're right," he mused. "Tell you what, Doc. You come with me willingly, promise never to fight or try to escape, and I'll let the girl go, home-free."

The Doctor honestly didn't know how to answer. Normally, he'd have said yes at once, as long as Ace got away clean. But she wouldn't have anywhere to live, or anyone who knew her. She didn't fit in this world, and she needed him. The Collector knew that, too, and laughed delightedly.

"My, but you_ are _in a bit of a quandary now, aren't you?" He asked. "Do you save the girl, leaving her to a rather bleak future, or do you stay with her, the both of you living out your lives in captivity?" He seemed to be really enjoying himself.

The Doctor was stricken with indecision. He couldn't leave Ace where she was, but neither could he send her out on her own. In the end, he didn't have to answer at all, because almost the entire back half of the Cyber-ship was blown sky-high by a tremendous blast. The shock wave actually rocked what remained of the ship.

The Doctor, realizing what had happened, laughed fiercely. Figures they wouldn't take her rucksack. Good old Ace, always ready and willing to provide a big boom. A blast that large must have been 4, maybe 5 or 6 cans of Nitro-9. He was glad he hadn't confiscated her bag or made her leave it in the TARDIS.

He threw back his head and yelled "Ace! Run! Don't come for me, I'll be fine! Just get away while you can! Don't stop for anything!" He hoped she heard, otherwise she'd probably turn around to come get him and end up getting herself recaptured. He stared at the spot that he thought the blast had come from and saw a small figure with a rucksack and baseball bat running like heck through the rain of twisted metal bits. He laughed again and would have punched the air had his arms not been restrained by the Yeti. Ace was safe. That was enough for him. Now he just had to figure out how to get himself out of his current situation…

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­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Ace ran as fast as she could, tearing through the streets and knocking people out of her way. She wasn't sure what she was running from- the Cybermen and Yetis that were probably pursuing her or her mental image of that last glimpse of the Professor being held by his arms as he yelled at her to run, to leave him behind…

_I swore I'd always be there, to watch your back, _she thought, holding back the tears which threatened to overflow and spill down her face. _I'm going to break you out, though. I'll return as soon as I can. I promise. _

She wove quickly through the crowded sidewalks, trying to remember how to get to the address that Martha had given as her parents' house, where she was staying for the weekend. She needed to find Martha now. She couldn't do this alone. Seeing a police station, she went in and found a city map, which eventually lead her to a pretty house on a nice street. She walked up to the door hesitantly, suddenly all too aware of her disheveled appearance. She was covered in dirt and soot from the explosion, and all of her exposed skin was burned because, being in a cell, she hadn't been able to get far enough away from the blast. Blood was oozing from the many small nicks and cuts she'd acquired from the falling shards of metal and glass that rained down after the explosion. Her shirt was about half gone, though her jacket was intact. She pulled it tighter around her.

Mentally berating herself for wasting precious time worrying, she knocked loudly. An older woman answered the summons, looking tired. Seeing Ace, she took in the young woman's dirty hair, blast-blackened face and hands, and burnt T-shirt, as well as the baseball bat she held over one shoulder.

"Can I help you?" she asked, a touch snidely. Ace decided this wasn't the time to be offended.

"Is Martha home? I need to see her," she said. The woman looked surprised that Ace had a legitimate reason for being there, but she turned and called "Martha! Door!" into the house's interior. Turning back to Ace, she said "She'll be right here," and left Ace standing in the open doorway.

She had been waiting just long enough to start feeling uneasy when Martha appeared at the end of the hall. Seeing Ace, and the condition she was in, she rushed to her side, crying "Ace! What happened? Where's the Doctor?"

The concern in her voice and on her face was enough to break Ace's tenuous control over herself, and she started crying softly. Martha immediately put a comforting arm around her shoulders and led her into the house. Sitting her on a couch, she drew her against her side and let her cry for a few minutes. Then, sitting Ace up, she asked gently "What happened, Ace? You're a mess. What went wrong?"

Ace shook her head sadly. "I don't really know. We were walking, and then, I heard something I thought I recognized, and I ran after it. There was a Cyber-ship, and the Professor lured the Cyber-cretins out with a piece of junk on a fishing line. But there was this other guy there. The Professor seemed to know him, and he was a time traveler, but not a Time Lord. He said he was more like me, so I guess he's human. He said he travels around collecting things from time, like an old Civil War uniform from a dead soldier and the Cybermen with their ship, and these weird furry robot things. He told the Professor he wanted to collect both of us- the last Time Lord and the only human Time Lord, and I don't know what happened after that 'cause the creepy furry robot grabbed me and took me into the ship. It locked me in a little room…a cell…like in the prison-" she broke off, shuddering, and Martha squeezed her shoulders comfortingly. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "So they locked me up, only they left my bag with me, and it had all my Nitro in it. I used all 6 cans and pretty much blew the ship to bits. I escaped, but I left the Professor behind. I wouldn't have, I swear, but he told me to. He yelled at me to keep running, so I came here." She looked up at Martha, her eyes fierce and defiant. Martha was suddenly glad she was counted among the young woman's friends. "I have to go back for him, Martha. I won't leave him there, and I have to make those scumbags pay for what they did to us, but I can't break him out alone. Will you help me? Even if you don't, I'll go back for him. Besides, that creep needs to be taken down." The determination, steel, and pure rage in her voice frightened Martha. She'd never seen Ace like this before. She spoke carefully.

"I will help you, Ace, but we can't just go rushing off with no plan. It sounds as though the man who kidnapped you planned this out in advance, so we'll have to be smart if we're going to get the better of him. Will you wait with me while we figure something out?" After Ace reluctantly nodded, she continued. "But before we do anything, let's get you cleaned up. You look like you've just come through a small war." Martha was pleased to see Ace smile a little. Pulling her up, she half-supported the exhausted Ace as she led her to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, most of the dirt was gone from Ace's body and her clothes were in the waash. Dressed in a huge shirt belonging to Martha's father and a pair of Martha's sister's shorts, she sat on the closed toilet seat and tried not to wince as Martha treated her burns and cuts. Martha shook her head and winced in sympathy at the sight of her friend's skin.

"How far away did you say you were from the explosion?" Martha asked, after bandaging yet another badly burned patch on Ace's arm.

"I didn't. I guess I was, maybe, 10 feet away. OK, 10 feet tops." Ace grimaced. Martha was being gentle, but it _hurt_! "I mean, did you think most of my shirt was crisped by a toaster oven or something?"

Martha gasped. "10 feet?! No wonder you're so toasted. It's amazing you weren't hurt worse, or killed. The force of one of those cans of yours could probably kill you, let alone six!" Then she frowned. "Wait a minute. If you were so close to the boom, why is your jacket almost untouched?"

Ace grinned sheepishly. "I took it off and balled it up so I could hold it in front of me when I turned my back to the Nitro. I didn't want it getting hurt."

Martha smacked her shoulder lightly. "Ace! That jacket probably would have spared your back quite a bit of punishment." Applying a last bit of burn ointment and a last bandage, she stepped back, eyeing Ace critically. Her friend's arms were completely clothed in a layer of white cloth, and most of her legs were, as well. The burns on her face, while not as bad, had to remain uncovered. Large patches of gauze had been medical-taped to her back. Martha had done all she could. Now only time could help. Well, time and the TARDIS, if they ever got back there. Martha noticed how tired Ace looked. She'd been through a lot, and probably needed rest. Convincing her of that, however, was going to be a challenge.

* * *

This chapter's a bit longer, to make up for the shortness of the last couple. I made sure not to end it in a cliffhanger, for Nighthowler. Come _on, _people! More than 2227 hits and only 19 reviews?! That is just sad. 


	12. Chapter 12

The Doctor groaned, arching his back against the smooth glass of the display case he was currently housed in. He had already tried breaking it and unlocking it with his sonic screwdriver. It was deadlock sealed, or so it seemed. The glass was shatterproof, as well. He doubted that he'd be able to escape anytime soon.

Outside of the glass, the Collector watched him smugly. "Are you satisfied that your new lodgings are escape proof?" he asked.

The Doctor simply glared at him furiously. He hadn't spoken a word since Ace's departure. He had no idea where she was, but he knew that the Yeti the Collector had sent after her was not back yet, so he assumed she was still at large. He almost hoped she never came back. After all, what was he, really? The last member of a dead race who, thanks to the Time War, had technically never existed. Maybe it wouldn't really matter whether he ever got out. Martha could look after Ace, and both of them had TARDIS keys. As long as those two were safe, maybe he didn't care what happened to him. But how could he leave the humans, the Earth, the universe, without a fight? He might not need himself, but others needed him. And Ace would never forgive him if he left her.

"Thinking on your position, are you?" The Collector's sneering voice pulled the Doctor out of his musings. "Well, you won't have cause to think much longer. As soon as my robots secure your little friend, I am going to use this," he held up a black box covered in buttons, "to activate the animation suspension module under your feet to freeze you at the very instant you see your companion brought to her knees before me and imprisoned.  
Perhaps I'll even…weaken her spirit a bit before you freeze, just to leave an impression." He smiled sickeningly, gesturing to something that looked disturbingly like a cattle prod.

The Doctor's breath caught. Not Ace-! Not after all she'd been through. Not this. The Collector laughed. "Ah, I see I'm finally getting through to you, Doctor. Well, see you later. Ta-ta!"

He turned on his heel and left the Doctor on the brink of panic. He had to get out of here.

"Who is she, Martha?" Martha's mother confronted her outside the door to the guest bedroom, where Ace was sleeping. Martha had finally convinced her to get some rest, only procuring a promise after promising in turn to go after the Doctor the next day.

"Her name's Ace. She's a friend, from…around." She cringed inwardly at the weakness of her answer. Her mother shook her head, annoyed.

"No, Martha, that's not good enough. God knows I've been very patient with you lately, especially where that Doctor person is concerned, but you can't expect me to just go with the flow when a complete stranger turns up at my doorstep looking half-dead and you greet her like a long-lost relative and let her in! What is she, a tramp? Someone you met on the streets?"

It was Martha's turn to shake her head. "No, nothing like that! She's just a long way from home. She's got nowhere else to go. She usually travels with the Doctor, but-"

Her mother cut her off with a short humorless laugh. "Oh, the Doctor. I should have known. Tell me, can you do anything without him being somehow involved, these days?"

Martha sighed. "Look, Mom. Now is not a good time for this. I'm sorry I can't explain more, I really am, but I can't. What I can tell you is that this girl needs my help. She has nowhere else- it was either here or the streets. Just- just let her stay for this one night, ok? Just one. And then, she'll be gone, and she won't bother you again. You can go on with your life the way you always do, not seeing anything bigger than your own backyard because you won't let yourself. You don't even know it's there to see, and I've seen it, and she's part of it! And I can't let her deal with everything on her own. All right?" She searched her mother's face, willing her to understand. In the end, she just shook her head again and turned away.

"One night. That's all I can give. One night, and then she leaves." She sounded somehow defeated, and Martha wondered if she had somehow caught a glimpse of all Martha had seen in her eyes. Maybe she was scared. Maybe she just didn't want any part of it. Either way, Martha had bought Ace some much-needed rest time. For now, that was the important thing.

Ace woke up slowly, unwilling for some reason to become fully conscious. She was very comfortable. Was she lying on…poofy stuff? Her bed wasn't poofy. That didn't make any sense. Unless it wasn't her bed…which it wasn't, of course. It was Martha's family's. Yes, that was it, but why was she here, and not home? Ace sat up quickly as she remembered why she wasn't at home, in the TARDIS. The Professor was in trouble! He needed her!

She practically sprang out of bed, despite healing burns, and rushed out of the door only to realize she had no idea how to get around the house. Thankfully, Martha had been listening for the door and came running. Seeing that Ace hadn't actually left the house, she relaxed visibly. Ace, on the other hand, was as tense as Martha had ever seen her.

"Can we go now? Where'd you put my bat and my jacket? And I could use some better clothes. Not that I'm not grateful for what you gave me and all, but-"

Martha laid a hand on her shoulder. "Whoa, slow down, Ace! You'll get everything you need, I promise, but you just have to wait until you've eaten, and then we'll get your stuff."

Ace shook off her hand angrily. "No! You still don't get it, do you? The Professor's in trouble. He's my best friend. He's more than that- he's my family, the only family I've got. He's almost like a dad, sometimes, and I must find him! He needs me now, not in half an hour, so I'm leaving now, with or without you!" Martha was unused to witnessing Ace's angry side, and was slightly taken aback by her fire. Ace was glaring at her, daring her to try to stop her from leaving. Martha took a step back.

"Okay. Let me grab your stuff, and we can go. Just don't leave without me, all right?"

Ace's gaze was still full of anger, but she nodded silently and watched as Martha turned and left her. A stray beam of light from the open window caught her eye and she blinked. The light glinted off a spark of yellow in her dark brown eyes. Deep within her, something was stirring, wakened by her turbulent emotions. Something primitive, and feral, and hungry.

Yay, another chapter done! Ok, so it's kinda short. Sorry. Seriously, though, I need more reviews. You have no idea how much I'd love reviews.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N- Here we are, folks, lucky 13! It's the best (and one of the longest) chapter yet! Enjoy!**

_Ace's gaze was still full of anger, but she nodded silently and watched as Martha turned and left her. A stray beam of light from the open window caught her eye and she blinked. The light glinted off a spark of yellow in her dark brown eyes. Deep within her, something was stirring, wakened by her turbulent emotions. Something primitive, and feral, and hungry._

Martha returned to Ace laden down with rucksack, baseball bat, and clothes she thought would fit her. She noticed something looked subtly different about her friend, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. Putting it down to nervousness or impatience, she handed everything to Ace and sent her to the bathroom to change and get ready. Going to the kitchen, she grabbed two apples and went to wait by the door. Ace didn't take long and soon joined her, pulling on her jacket and hefting her bat. Slinging her bag over one shoulder, she grimaced, remarking "I wish I had time to whip up some more Nitro-9, but I don't. So let's go."

With one last glance at Ace's strangely same-yet-different face, Martha opened the door. They left together, and Martha closed the door behind them. Falling into step behind Ace, she followed as the other led her on a complicated path through the streets. Ace kept quickening her step as she went as though eager to reach their destination as soon as possible.

* * *

The Doctor was dozing fitfully in his cage when the Cyberman sentinel returned from its position down the street a ways from the sleeping ship. He could hear it walking across what was left of the top of the ship. It sounded as though it slipped on the jagged, soot-blackened edge of the blasted section before righting itself and continuing on to where the Collector stood waiting. Its low monotone voice resonated clearly through the torn ship, echoing along passages and through holes that hadn't been there two days prior. 

"Two life forms detected approaching from the east. One shows signs of alien life within." The Doctor heard the Cyberman's report and was confused. Neither Ace nor Martha was alien, unless Gallifrey had somehow imbued Ace with Time Lord bio-signs, which was theoretically possible. Or if Ace's system hadn't completely eradicated the…His thoughts were interrupted when the Cyberman continued.

"Cyberunits are stationed around the perimeter, and have been instructed to report when the two beings approach. Report end."

"Thank you, Cyberunit. You may go." The Collector's voice carried even better than the Cyberman's had. He raised his voice to make sure the Doctor could hear, saying "We'll soon have your little friend back under control now, Doctor. So sorry you can't see her yourself yet, but as you've been unavoidably detained, I'll just pass along your best wishes, shall I?" His words oozed fake sincerity. The Doctor growled. Overhead, the Collector laughed, an utterly false sound.

The Doctor strained his ears, trying desperately to hear some sound, any sound, which would indicate Ace's return. Feeling more helpless than he had in many years, he hit the glass with his fist in frustration. Other than that, there was nothing he could do but wait, and listen, and hope.

* * *

"Ace! Ace, slow down!" Martha was having trouble keeping up with Ace, who was now running full-tilt through the crowded streets. If she heard Martha, she gave no sign. She turned a last corner by now far ahead of Martha. Martha ran faster, skidding around the corner in her efforts to keep from losing Ace completely. She stopped dead at the sight of the ruined Cyber-ship. Surveying the damage, she finally realized what kind of blast Ace had survived. 

_That should have killed her, _she thought slowly. _Ace should be dead. No human could have been 10 feet from that kind of explosion and survived. _She suddenly thought of the strange difference she had noticed in Ace's face earlier that morning. Was it possible that she wasn't fully human anymore? She had certainly been exposed to plenty of alien influences, not the least of which including telepathic TARDISes. Or perhaps she had been further away than she thought. Either way, she was gone now. She had caught a glimpse of the Doctor, apparently shut up in a display case, and raced off toward him. Martha didn't follow her. She was wary of the situation- the place seemed suspiciously deserted.

As it turned out, she was right to be nervous. As soon as Ace got close to the Doctor, a Cyberman stepped out from behind a twisted piece of the ship. It collared Ace roughly, placing a huge metal hand on the back of her neck and forcing her to her knees. She struggled pointlessly. Martha watched in horror as it cuffed her, almost knocking her over. She was quiet after that.

* * *

Contrary to Martha's belief, Ace was not quiet due to the Cyberman holding her still. In fact, she was fighting with herself. She could feel the feral thing that lived inside her howling to get loose. It wanted to hunt, to punish the people who held her captive, and then to run and hunt and kill and eat and live as it wanted. It had been wakened by the horse's neigh she had heard the day before, and now it was stronger than ever, and howling for release. She was holding it off for now, but only just. She knew she would have to give in eventually. When this thing had first taken up residence inside her, the Professor had helped her keep in under control. Now, though, he couldn't help her, and she was losing her battle. She snarled out loud, and it was a wild sound. 

Up above, atop the ship, the Collector heard the furious sounds and came to investigate. Seeing Ace on the ground, he clapped his hands together happily. "Well done, Cyberunit! You've retrieved the girl! And doesn't she sound fiery! Hold her where she is, there's a good fellow. Actually, on second thought, bring her 'round front, where her precious Doctor can see her." The Cyberman dutifully dragged Ace around to the display case and the Doctor got his first good look at her since she had escaped the day before.

* * *

The Doctor gasped. Ace was a mess. Her arms and legs were bandaged and her face was a mask of partly-healed burns. Us usual, she was glaring defiantly at her captors, and even tried to lash out at the Collector as he descended from above and stood beside her, looking down on her smugly. He reached out and grasped her chin, ignoring her shudder of pain and revulsion. Forcing her to look at him, he smiled. 

"Hello, my dear. Did you miss me?" His voice was sickly sweet. Ace growled again, and the Doctor thought he caught a glimpse of fierce yellow deep within her brown eyes. He prayed he was wrong.

The Collector laughed cruelly. "I'm so glad to hear it. Now perhaps you'd like a little welcome back present?" Reaching for a metal staff by his feet, he brought it down hard on Ace's back. The Doctor, helpless in his cage, cried out involuntarily at the expression of pain on Ace's face. Unlike him, she did not cry out. Instead, she glared daggers at the Collector. Glancing quickly at the Doctor, she seemed to make some kind of decision. She looked straight into his eyes and silently mouthed 'I'm sorry'. Then she closed her own eyes, sighed, and shuddered violently. When she opened them again, they were a pure, burning yellow.

* * *

­It hadn't been the blow that forced her to give in. The look of horror and sorrow on the Professor's face had done it. She could endure whatever the Collector dished out; she wouldn't allow the Professor to be hurt. Looking at him sadly, she mouthed 'I'm sorry' and gave in to the raging hunger inside of her. 

At first, it was almost a relief to give in. No more fighting a losing battle. No more fear and anxiety and helplessness because her Professor was gone. No more uncertainty around the Professor, no more worrying about not fitting in anywhere, no more pain and anguish and pointless guilt left over from a war long since lost. She registered all this for a moment; then the animal in her roared into full life and swept her into a corner of her own mind. The girl who had been Ace was all but gone- in her place was an animal of almost pure instinct.

For the first few seconds, she couldn't see anything. She was overwhelmed by sensations. All at once, she had the sight, smell, and hearing of a cat, and the instincts of the ultimate hunter. With a roar, she sprang up impossibly fast, throwing the Cyberman off of her and tearing the bat out of the rucksack on her shoulder in one smooth movement. Turning on the Cyberman, she smashed his head off with the metal bat, crushing the bat in the process. Far past any possibility of thinking, she flung the useless tool from her and dropped into a predator's crouch, looking around warily and searching for movement. There, by the edge of the ship- the smell of fear and warm blood. The urge to hunt kicked in. In a moment, she was stalking the prey.

* * *

Martha wasn't quite sure what had happened. One moment, Ace had been kneeling on the ground. The next, she was upright, attacking the Cyberman behind her with a ferocity unlike anything Martha had ever seen. As soon as the metal man was out of commission she sank into a crouch and turned slowly. From where Martha stood, she appeared to be scenting the air. Her face turned in Martha's direction, and she stiffened. She crept towards Martha silently, moving with a lithe motion that was totally inhuman. In a moment, she was close enough for Martha to see her face. 

Martha took an involuntary step back at the sight of Ace's expression. Her face was twisted into a soundless snarl, and Martha saw that her canine teeth had grown into pointed fangs. Her wild golden eyes were curiously blank, as if there was no trace of consciousness left in their depths. Ace raised arms that ended with shortened fingers and wicked claws. Then she was at Martha's throat, so quickly that Martha didn't see her lunge. With a muffled shriek, she closed her eyes and waited to feel the teeth of her friend ending her life.

* * *

Ace was vaguely disappointed. The prey had not run. There was no excitement in the chase. Keeping her claws at the prey's neck, she leaned back a bit and looked at the prey's face. Brown skin, frightened expression, the stink of fear- typical prey behavior. But there was something odd about this one. Something would not let her make the final, life-ending bite. She felt some repressed part of her telling her that this was not prey. This creature was not good to eat. She did not dwell on the feeling for long. Dropping her arms, she turned from the prey-that-was-not-prey and loped quickly back to the fallen not-man that she had destroyed. 

Near him was the caged man. She felt drawn to the caged man. The same thing that warned her not to eat the prey-that-was-not-prey told her that the caged man was important. He was a Hunt-brother. He was Pack. He should not be caged. He should be freed and protected. She didn't question her instincts. She was a hunter, not a thinker. Breaking into a sprint, she hurled herself at the clear wall that separated her from the caged man.

The clear wall broke when she hit it. The caged man looked surprised. She was surprised, too. He did not smell like Pack. Still, she hauled him out of the cage and, placing him on the ground behind her, stood protectively in front of him. Surveying the area, she saw several more not-men and the short, bad-smelling man who had hit her. He needed to be taken care of- he was a Threat to the Pack. And now that the caged man was free, the real fight could start.

* * *

The Doctor was shocked when Ace came barreling out of nowhere and crashed through the supposedly shatterproof cage. Yet another impossible thing she had accomplished. For a moment he thought she'd come back to herself, but her eyes told him differently. She grabbed him and picked him up easily; using strength she hadn't had before. Once he was on the ground again, he stood up slowly and started backing away, trying to get to Martha. Ace glanced back at him for a moment disinterestedly before turning her attention back to the Cybermen and the Collector. He almost couldn't call her Ace anymore, not truthfully. Her body was still there, but her mind had gone fully Cheetah now. 

He reached Martha eventually, and she clung to him for a moment. He put his arms around her soothingly and spoke softly to her. "Shhh…it's all right. You're perfectly safe. You're all right."

She spoke in a frightened voice, little more than a whisper. "What happened to her?"

The Doctor looked grim. "Years ago, we were lured by an old enemy of mine to a planet populated by giant sentient Cheetah people. Most of them hadn't always been that way- the planet itself was alive, and it affected anyone who set foot on its surface, slowly altering them until they became a Cheetah as well. I called it the Cheetah virus. It affected Ace faster than it did the others with us. I'm not sure why; maybe because it's in her nature to be a bit wild anyway. I almost lost her to the planet then, but I was able to call her back. She used her new powers to get us back to Earth, but in doing so she let the virus take an even firmer hold inside of her. Over time, I taught her how to mostly control it, but I think she's let it loose now. She's gone completely feral."

He was holding back tears now. His Ace, the girl he loved like his own daughter, was lost to him again. Once again, he hadn't been able to protect her the way he should have. He was disappointed in himself and terrified for Ace. He wondered if she was still aware, in some far-off corner of her own mind, aware but trapped and unable to do anything. Or maybe her whole mind was gone now. He didn't know which option was worse, or sadder. He should have protected her. He was supposed to be the strong one, the one she could rely on, the one who would always protect her. He had failed her twice now. Last time, he had gotten lucky. Now he had failed her for good. She was gone, and it was all his fault. The great Oncoming Storm, the Protector of the Universe, couldn't even take care of those he loved. Some Professor he turned out to be.

_Oh, Ace, _he thought, _what have I done?

* * *

_

Martha listened to the Doctor's story gravely. If Ace wasn't completely human, that would explain why she had survived the huge blast that destroyed the Cyber-ship. Her body must have already been changing subtly, and was more resistant to injury. Martha sighed, realizing now how long Ace must have been fighting against this thing. She looked again at the small figure of her friend, who had been willing to give up anything to save the Doctor, and in the end had made the ultimate sacrifice. It was hard to believe that Ace as she knew her was gone… but wait. She thought of something and tugged on the Doctor's sleeve. He looked down, distracted.

"Doctor. When Ace came over here, she was going to kill me. She wanted to, I could tell. But something stopped her. Some part of Ace is still in there, I think. That's why she let me go. Is it possible to bring that part back out?" She remembered the faintly confused look that flitted across Ace's face before she let Martha go. Perhaps the Ace she knew had been influencing the actions of her wild counterpart.

The Doctor looked thoughtful. "It's possible," he said finally. "And now that you mention it, she must have had a reason for rescuing me and then protecting me." He smiled sadly. "That's Ace for you, though- always trying to watch everyone's back and thinking of everyone's safety but her own. Even if she is somehow still in there, we can't try anything now, not while she's still in fighting mode." He chuckled a little, and added, "I wouldn't mess with Ace in that mood on any day, virus or no virus. The Collector won't know what hit him."

Knowing he was right, and there was nothing they could do at the moment, Martha simply nodded and watched as Ace tore into the remaining Cybermen and the two Yeti robots in her attempts to reach the Controller. Her actions betrayed no lingering awareness- she seemed to be acting through pure, uncontrolled instinct. Whatever had made Ace rescue the Doctor and leave Martha alive certainly was not evident any more.

* * *

Ace needed to get to the little man on top of the ship. He was the Threat. He needed to be removed. The not-men kept her away from the Threat. This was not good, so she simply took the not-men apart. They were made of a strange cold not-flesh. They did not bleed or cry out. She could not eat their unfeeling not-flesh. There would be no pleasure in this Hunt until the not-men were gone and she could get to the Threat. The not-men were not alive or dead- they were Wrong, and should be destroyed. She knew this and acted accordingly. 

Soon, the not-men were all in pieces on the ground. Now nothing stood between her and the Threat. She looked up at the Threat. He was too high up for any human to reach with a single jump. Good thing she was not human, then. She leapt up to the top of the ship and confronted the Threat. He looked very scared when she grabbed his collar and shouted something very loudly.

"I'm afraid we must part company, Doctor. I do not think we shall meet again- If I had known you were in possession of a Cheetah person, I would have seriously reconsidered my intentions. Adieu, Doctor."

Then Ace was left clutching only air. The Threat had disappeared. She was faintly unsatisfied because she had not killed the man, but her ultimate goal had been realized. The Threat was gone and the Pack was safe. Her mission fulfilled, she bounded down from her perch and set off in search of prey she could eat.

* * *

­Martha was more than a little frightened as robot after nigh-indestructible robot fell under Ace's wild onslaught. When the Collector's metal henchmen were no more, Ace sprang at the Collector, more than 20 feet straight up. She grabbed at him and he started shouting. Martha caught his words, and the Doctor stiffened, so she knew he'd heard as well. Her enemy gone, Ace looked around, seemingly bewildered, and dropped easily to the ground. 

The Doctor seized Martha's wrist and pulled. "Come on," he told her urgently. "Now's our chance!"

Half-stumbling, she followed him as he sprinted towards Ace. Seeing him, Ace wheeled and crouched defensively, a low warning growl echoing in her throat. The Doctor slowed immediately and started walking slowly. He held up his hands in an attempt to pacify her. Martha stopped a few feet back and eyed Ace nervously. The young woman hadn't moved, but she hadn't stopped growling either. The Doctor approached carefully and reached out to place his hands lightly on her shoulders. The low growl intensified into a furious snarl, but she didn't run. The Doctor gazed into her eyes for a long, tense moment. The snarling subsided slightly. The Doctor spoke.

"Ace. Ace, can you hear me? It's all right now. Everything's over. I'm safe- you did it, you won. You can come back now, Ace." His tone grew coaxing. "Ace, please, please come back." He searched her eyes in an increasingly desperate attempt to find some sign, any sign, of recognition or response. Finally, he looked back at Martha, tears running down his face.

"She's gone," he whispered brokenly. "I've lost her."

* * *

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	14. Chapter 14

Martha stared horrorstruck at the Doctor's tearstained face and Ace's twisted, angry expression. She couldn't believe that the Ace she knew could be gone. She thought of Ace, of her fiery spirit and quick laugh, and of how devastated the Doctor was going to be, now that he'd lost her a second time. All at once, her eyes hardened with a fierce determination worthy of her absent friend. She pushed past the Doctor and grabbed Ace by both shoulders. The girl snapped at her with inch-long fangs.

Martha shook her. "You look at me, Ace," she said in a low, intense voice. Ace, startled, whined and tried to pull back. Martha shook her again, harder. "No. _Look at me_." Ace looked up at her reluctantly. Martha spoke urgently, making sure to keep eye contact. "This isn't you, Ace. I know you're still in there. You have to fight this thing. The Doctor- he _needs_ you. You can't know how much happier he's been, now that you've come back, but I can, and I do. Besides, who else is going to watch his back? It's not just him who needs you, either.Where else could I find another human to talk to while we're out there in the hugeness of the universe? And I need someone to help me look after the Doctor. Lord knows he can't keep himself out of trouble." Ace didn't appear to be responding at all. Martha sighed. "Look. The Doctor - he can't lose you again. He wouldn't be able to stand it. I know how much you care about him. The Ace I know wouldn't leave him, wouldn't give in so easily like this, not without a huge fight. You _can _fight back, and win. Come on, Ace. Fight it."

Martha knew she'd done all she could. It was up to Ace now. She kept her gaze intent on Ace's face in the hopes of catching a flicker of something, anything, to show she'd heard and understood.

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The Hunter was confused. The prey-that-was-not-prey was speaking strong words, spoken like another Hunter. The words did not make sense. The prey-that-was-not-prey called the Hunter an unfamiliar name. Ace. The Hunter was not Ace. The Hunter was the Hunter, and had always been- but wait. Things were coming up from within the Hunter's mind. Something was there, and was growing stronger with each passing moment. The Hunter saw strange images and heard strange sounds, but they were not seen with her eyes or heard with her ears. Her eyes still saw the prey-that-was-not-prey.

The Hunter searched for a name for the strange images, but could not find one. She examined them closely. They were all moving pictures of a little, dark-haired man or a tall light-haired man. She knew at once that they were the same man. The knowledge came from the part of her that was stirring. She did not know this part of her, but it was strong, and different, and it knew things. Suddenly she had a name for the moving images- memory. The memories were coming faster now, and the back-of-the-mind part of her was stronger than ever, and it wasn't just a feeling, it was another _person. _

Then she didn't know who she was, and she couldn't see and everything _hurt, _her head her arms her legs everything, and she didn't know which way was up and she was falling, swept away and lost in a sea of memories and pain, and nothing was real, and everything was black, and she didn't know anything. There was a voice, though, a faint voice that pierced the black curtain of pain and brought her up nearer to the surface, and she clung to the voice for dear life. She was fighting with herself now, and she felt that she'd done this before, except everything was reversed now. The other person in her head was definite now, and somehow it was also her, and she still didn't know what was real, except that voice, that familiar, comforting voice that the other her knew and loved and drew strength from.

_Ace….Ace…..can you hear me? Ace…_

After Martha finished speaking, the Doctor had eyes only for Ace, whose eyes in turn were focused on Martha's. For a few excruciatingly long moments, no one moved. Then he saw it- a thin thread of warm brown moving up from the cold depths of the yellow of Ace's eyes. He gasped, and dared to hope. Ace frowned faintly, and then cried out and stumbled back abruptly, wrenching her shoulders from Martha's grip. She fell to her knees and clutched her head tightly with hands that were wonderfully slim and human again. Her eyes were wide and staring, twin pools of warring brown and yellow. It was impossible to tell which was winning. Each moment the outcome appeared certain, and the next moment it changed again. The Doctor prayed silently that the brown would hold out.

Ace still cried out, the high, heartrending keen of an animal in pain. Slowly, it changed, becoming more human, less animal, but no less pained. The cry weakened and eventually trailed off altogether. For a split second, Ace's eyes flashed totally brown. In that moment, her eyes found his, and she whispered "Help me."

Instantly, the Doctor was at her side, Martha kneeling down a step behind him. He put his hands on either side of Ace's face and started talking to her quietly. "Ace…can you hear me? Ace? Nod if you can hear me."

Ace shuddered in his hands, and her eyes swirled from mostly yellow to mostly brown and back again. She started to nod hesitantly, then shook harder than ever. "It hurts," she whimpered.

The Doctor fought the urge to hug her, to hold her and never let go. But he couldn't grab her. The wild side of her would see it as a threat, and he'd lose her for sure. "I know," he told her. "I know." Ace's eyes looked over his shoulder, and he was confused for a moment, but then he realized why- she couldn't see. He moved his hands down to close around hers. He wanted to make sure she could feel him, and knew he was there. -ded down fromerson zI wold have seriously reconsidered Her fingers tightened convulsively around his.

"What's happening to her?" Ace's head whipped around at the sound of Martha's voice, apparently recognizing it. This was a very good sign.

The Doctor answered her tersely. "Two beings are trying to control one mind. Her body wasn't meant to handle that kind of stress." He addressed Ace again. "Ace, do you know who just spoke? Do you know who that was?" Ace shook her head, nodded, nodded again. Her whole body was wracked with uncontrollable shaking. "Who is she, Ace? Tell me! Who is she?"

The Doctor waited with bated breath for Ace's answer. Now they'd discover whether or not she could survive.

The Hunter- who wasn't really the Hunter, or might not be- heard the voices echoing in her head. One was the prey-that-was-not-prey. But that was not really who she was. She was….the Hunter could not remember. The other voice, the voice that made her think of warm arms and safety, sounded again. "_Who is she?_"

The Hunter could not grasp the name. Instead, a confused flurry of images and feelings came, all about the prey-that-was-not-prey. The Hunter tried to put a word to each picture/feeling. Talking was hard, but the warm voice made her want to try.

"Prey…not prey…" she gasped between each word, groaning as she forced words out through involuntarily clenched teeth. It hurt to speak! A flash of a concerned face, another feeling. "Helper…healer…doctor…not…the Doctor….assistant…leader… smart... comforter…aaargh…" she broke of as a fresh wave of pain swept over her. More images, more feelings, this time of long talks and laughter. "Companion… friend … sister …" she was getting close to a name here. "argh…M-Martha." she gasped again. "Martha Jones."

She heard a delighted cry, and the warm voice was triumphant. "Yes! Yes, this is Martha. Now, Ace, who is speaking to you? You know me. Who am I?" The voice was more urgent now. The Hunter concentrated, but it was hard. She was still caught between being the Hunter and being the one who knew Martha and the warm-voiced man. A flood of memories came this time, and the words came easier, though she paused often, her face screwed up and gasping for breath. The internal struggle was using more strength than she had.

The images came as fast as she could name them. "Annoying …manipulator…dark… mysterious… sly… compassionate…healer… quirky… affectionate…private…scared… helper…protector… fierce…fire…ice…Oncoming Storm…teacher…student…best mate…brother… uncle…father…" her words were a struggle now, as she strove to find the name she needed. "Savior …Doc-Doctor…" she had named him, but she wasn't done yet. There was one name she still needed. She searched for it…ah. There it was. "Professor. Professor." The warm voice- the Professor- laughed. "It's working, Martha," she heard him shout. "It's working!! One last question. The last one." His voice took on a strange new edge. "Tell me. Who are you?'

Ace was doing extremely well. The Doctor hadn't been sure if she was going to be able to come out of it, but she was fighting, and very close to winning. He had seen the wry half-smile that appeared on her face as she said 'annoying'-classic Ace. He had grinned, too. But this last question was the most important. After having gone so deep into herself, would Ace be able to reassert her own personality, to remember who she was?

The girl in question frowned now. She opened her mouth and closed it again, and then started speaking. "Hunter. Hunter…but not…no, not Hunter…" she trailed off. The Doctor held his breath. After a moment, she resumed her halting speech. "Stubborn… friendly…protector…shielder…friend…sister…niece…daughter…student…teacher… fighter…hunter…hunt…" She shuddered, fighting the alien in her. "hunter…sometimes. But not just hunter. I am…I am…." Every word was a huge struggle for her, the Doctor could see that. Clenching her jaw tightly, she clutched his hands even tighter. He squeezed back, hoping to give her strength. She took several deep breaths before forcing the last words out. "I am…Ace. I am Ace." As soon as she spoke, she slumped forward a little and her eyes half-closed. She had won. The Doctor knew it, and Martha knew it too, because she cheered and hugged the Doctor around the shoulders from behind.

Ace stirred and sat up slowly, obviously exhausted. She opened her eyes all the way, and they were her own deep brown. She broke into a huge smile, revealing even, regular human teeth. Releasing one of the Doctor's hands, she reached past him and pulled Martha down to her before letting go of the Doctor's other hand and hugging Martha hard. Martha and the Doctor were surprised at this- Ace didn't usually go for open displays of emotion, hugs and the like. Still, Martha hugged her back, grateful to be able to touch her without fearing a bite.

"Thank you," Ace said simply, "for not letting me go." She pulled back from the embrace, and Martha let her. Ace was still very shaken up. She almost couldn't believe she was back in control again. She knew she had Martha to thank. Remembering the awful exhilaration she had felt, how she'd reveled in her strength and her speed, she shuddered. The Doctor saw it and made a mental note to sit her down later and talk to her about everything that had happened in her head.

Martha smiled gently, and brushed a stray lock of hair from Ace's face. "You're welcome," she answered. "You'd have done the same for me, or the Doctor." At the mention of his name, Ace cringed a little and looked up at him guiltily.

"Professor, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have-" he didn't let her finish. He met her gaze evenly, and couldn't help grinning- he'd been sure he wasn't going to see those beautiful brown eyes again. He mastered himself quickly, though, and his expression became serious. He placed a hand lightly on her cheek.

"Don't," he said, "feel sorry for something you think is right. Nothing that happened was your fault; in fact, you pretty much saved everyone." He hugged her, and she leaned into the warm circle of his arms. Putting his lips right next to her ear, he whispered "And that's my girl." Even though he couldn't see her face, somehow he _felt _Ace's smile.

Even so, her expression told him she was still unsure about something. He waited- she'd ask him in her own good time. "Professor," she began hesitantly. He smiled encouragingly. "Is it gone? I mean, I know it's not gone- I can feel it, sleeping, like. But… will it come back? Will it try to…to take over again?" He could see darkness in her eyes- harsh memories, and fear.

He hurried to reassure her. "No, Ace, I really don't think it will. You see, once you accepted it, as a part of you, it will probably be content to be a part of you." Ace looked blank. So did Martha, for that matter. He tried again. "It's like…it's like a hidden talent, sort of. Say you were an amazing artist, but you never drew anything so you never realized it. Then, one day, you picked up a sketch pad and discovered how well you drew. After that day, you'd know that the talent was there, but it wouldn't become active again until you called on it." He paused, trying to find a way to explain the last bit to Ace without frightening her. "The Cheetah part of you hasn't gone away, Ace, it's just… dormant. You should be able to control it now, though, and call it up when and if you want. Besides that, you'll most likely retain some of the changes you're body has gone through- you'll be able to hear, smell, and see far better than any regular human, for instance. Now," he added hastily, seeing Ace's worried face, "I don't know for sure if that'll happen, but there is a good chance." Then he grinned and tweaked her nose. "I'm sure you'll be able to put any new 'talents' to good use."

Ace looked thoughtful. "That might not be half bad, Professor. I mean, with the amount of trouble we seem to get ourselves into, superhuman senses will probably be really helpful." A smile crept across her face, alight with mischief. "And I bet I'll still be able to move like a cat. Nobody's gonna be able to hear me coming." The Doctor and Martha contemplated the idea of a near-silent Ace bent on pranks, and became very nervous.

Martha, who'd been waiting for a chance to intervene, cut in now. "You know, Ace, we should probably be getting back to the TARDIS now. It's getting late, and I need to change your bandages soon." Ace nodded, saying "That sounds great, Martha. I'm fair knackered anyway. I can't wait to get in bed tonight." She stood up with minimal difficulty, grabbed her rucksack, and set off down the street. She envisioned her warm bed in the TARDIS and a nice, cozy evening with the Professor, Martha, and a cup of hot chocolate.

The Doctor and Martha trailed after her, talking softly. When the Doctor was done thanking Martha fervently for the hundredth time, she told him the exact cause of Ace's burns. He was stunned. Martha was right- Ace should not have survived. He decided to check her out soon, once she was settled back in and fully healed. He wanted to know exactly how inhuman Ace had become. He suspected a large part of her inhuman-ness would be caused not by the Cheetah virus but by the years she'd spent with Time Lords and their TARDISes. He watched Ace striding ahead of Martha and himself. She moved differently than before, with an effortless, fluid feline grace. Her balance was probably impeccable now. The Doctor wondered what other changes would make themselves permanent and chuckled wryly at the thought of Ace's already quick temper possibly being heated further by the lingering alien presence.

Martha heard him and looked over curiously. Ace, too, heard, and glanced back at the two of them, eager to be in on the joke. The laugh had been very quiet- a normal human at Ace's distance would have missed it entirely. The Doctor waved them both off, shaking his head, still grinning slightly. Ace dropped back and fell into step with him. She slipped an arm through his, and he drew her close to his side, moving his arm to her waist. She rested her head on his shoulder and they walked together, each so attuned to the other that they moved almost as one.

Martha fought of a quiet pang of jealousy as she looked on. She didn't begrudge Ace her relationship with the Doctor in the least, but it was hard sometimes, watching them tease each other and laugh, seeing how well they understood each other and how easily and perfectly the two of them meshed. Ace brought out another side of the Doctor, a lighter, happier side Martha had hardly seen before. Before Ace, he had always had this shadow over him, a shadow of guilt and loneliness that Ace had mostly dispelled. It was cute, how protective he could get of Ace, and she of him. Since she had come back to the TARDIS months before, it had become a sort of amalgam of the present and the past. Martha honestly couldn't imagine an Ace-less TARDIS now. She liked it. It was right, somehow. Things belonged the way they were. It helped that Ace was a genuinely nice person, and very easy to like.

The three of them made their way slowly through the streets, smiling and joking and starting to recover from their ordeal. They stopped at Martha's house to let her gather her things; she was returning to the TARDIS, her visit with her family finished. She also wanted to be close to Ace so she could at least attempt to keep her quiet until her burns could heal. She doubted she'd be able to, but it wouldn't be for lack of trying. After Martha had bid her family goodbye, she slung her bag over her shoulder and went back to the waiting Doctor and Ace.

Her family waved politely from the doorway. Martha's mother had to turn away in the end, so Martha wouldn't see her tears. She wondered if she'd ever see her daughter again. Martha was so changed, by all that she'd done and seen with this Doctor person. Every time Martha's mother watched her walk away, she felt like she was losing another bit of her.

Oblivious to the private thoughts and feelings of the family left in their wake, the travelers continued on to the TARDIS. Tumbling through the doors, Ace and Martha headed to the infirmary for burn ointment and fresh bandages. The Doctor disappeared into the kitchen and started banging pots and pans around. Soon, they were all together once more around a table in the dining room. The diner was delicious, though Ace decided to pass on the steaks for once. She was still a bit nervous and resolved to forego meat for a few days, just in case, though if they had bacon for breakfast, she might be convinced to forget that promise.

After they'd eaten, everyone retired to their respective rooms for the night. They'd each had a long and tiring day. The last thought to go through all of their minds was 'It's good to be home'.

Next chapter (if you readers aren't bored with the whole thing yet)- the Doctor ascertains just how inhuman Ace is, and the TARDIS gets an unexpected visitor. I'm actually tempted to leave this where it is and make the next chapter 'Chapter 1' of a sequel. What do you guys think?

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